Saturday, September 7, 2013

2014 PG target Quentin Snider's dad on son's visit: "“He liked UCLA; he liked it a whole lot."

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Snider's dad: Illini in mix for point guard




In July when Quentin Snider backed out of the commitment he made to Louisville two years ago, Scott Snider figured there would be interest in his son from college basketball coaches. What surprised him, though, was how quickly and often the phone began ringing with programs inquiring about landing the point guard.

Illinois coach John Groce was among the first calls the Sniders received.

“I think they called that night. Coach Groce said (Illinois guard) Aaron (Cosby) told them they needed to get in contact with us,” Dad said. “They looked him up and everything and called either that night or early the next morning.”

The Illini have been in hot pursuit of the 6-foot point guard, who arrives today for an official visit, ever since. The visit comes earlier than expected because Snider, a four-star recruit rated in the top 40 by all the major recruiting services, changed the date of his Sept. 27 visit with Illinois to this weekend.

The trip to the UI campus comes a week after the Sniders made an official visit to UCLA.
This weekend originally was scheduled as a visit to Memphis, but Snider released his list of seven schools he’s considering last week — Illinois, UCLA, USC, Michigan State, Cincinnati, UConn and Oklahoma State — and the Tigers didn’t make the cut.

“We had the week off and he really liked UCLA a lot last week, and we wanted to make sure he saw some other schools to compare,” Scott Snider said. “We felt it would be good to get them done early instead of waiting until the 28th.”

Snider, rated 31st in the Class of 2014 by Rivals, 31st by Scout and 28th by ESPN, has visits with Michigan State and UConn scheduled for later this month.

Scott Snider said all seven schools on the list are still in play.

Working in Illinois’ favor is the relationship Quentin has with Cosby, a fellow Louisville native. The transfer from Seton Hall has had an enjoyable experience at the UI so far, something Scott Snider hears about from Cosby’s father.

“He said everything is going great so far; Coach Groce has been great to Aaron,” Scott Snider said. “Coach Groce watched out for Aaron when he had his double-hernia surgery this summer, and I know Aaron’s dad is real fond of Coach Groce.”

Snider also has a relationship with Leron Black, who last week committed to Illinois during his official visit to campus. Scott Snider isn’t sure, even if Quentin has an enjoyable visit to Illinois, that his trip will end in the same fashion.

“We’ll need to go home and talk about it more, maybe take another visit and make sure that’s where his heart is,” Scott Snider said. “He liked UCLA; he liked it a whole lot. I wanted him to at least take another visit and not just jump on the first visit; we did that last time with Louisville. If he goes to Illinois and comes back and says he still likes UCLA and that’s where his heart is at, OK. He might get to Illinois and like it, and I wanted to make sure we visited there.”


Check out some recent Quentin Snider videos (link)

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